Cooling of data centers, as well as office complexes and manufacturing facilities, is typically achieved by coupling, for example, a vapor-compression refrigeration system to a heat dissipation coolant loop, such as a chilled water circulation loop. The ultimate heat rejection sink for the vapor-compression refrigeration system may be a river, lake, ocean or the surrounding air. When an air-cooled cooling tower is employed, efficiency of heat transfer to the surrounding environment depends on the ambient temperature about the tower. For example, while an air conditioning load in a data center is relatively constant over time (e.g., day and night operation is common), efficiency of the vapor-compression refrigeration system decreases with increasing ambient temperature. Undesirably, the efficiency of the cooling system is thus low during the day, when the data center, office or manufacturing floor air conditioning demands are the highest, and is relatively higher at night, when the air conditioning demands are the lowest.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a cooling system and method which enhances thermal energy transfer efficiency with variation in ambient temperature about, for example, a cooling tower.